Vehicle wheel



Feb. 3.

' 1524306 F. W. BAKER VEHICLE WHEEL Filed Feb. 2, 1920 Fatented Feb. 3,1925.

FREDERCK W. BAKER, OF STOURBRIDGE, ENGLAND( vEHIcLE WHEEL.

Application filed February 2, 1920. Serial No. 355,@32.

To (IJZ whom, it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERIOK lVILLiAMBAKEP, subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident ofOldswintord, Stourbridge, in the connty of lVorcester, England, enginecr, have invented certain new and usetul Improvements in VehicleVVheels, of which the following is a specific-ation.

My invention relates to that type of wheel which comprises twoconcentric metallic rinis spaced apart by distance pieces, the inner, orfixed rim being connected with the hub, and the onter rim carrying thepneumatic or other tire, with the object ot making use of the naturalresilience of the two rims.

The object of ny invention is to realize or attain, in an arrangement ofthis kind, the maximum of resilience tor the purpose of absorbingshocks, whether originating in the drive, or in obstacles encountered onthe road, with the minimum of detormation of the wheel due to suchshocks. I

My invention consists in attaching the fixed rim to the outer rim atthree equidistant places, each attachment being of greater dimension inthe direction ot the circumferonce of' the wheel than in depth e. theradial distance between the two rims) so as to permit of such attachmenttransmitting the driving torque to the outer rim without undne strain onthe attachment, and also by making the area of attachment as stitf aspossible, to constitute each arc of 120 degrees ot the outer rim, ineftect what is known as an encastre beam, whereby the deflectionproduced by the outer rim encountering an obstacle is reduced to aminimum. At the same time, by having three places ot attachment only,the arcs of the outer rim are made as long as possible, and the springaction ot the outer rim is at a maximum. The fixed rim is connected tothe hub by means or" a triple-point-star-centre-member comprisinglongitudinally curved spokes arranged in a symmetrical combination orseries of arches between the inner rim and the hub and with the ends ofthe spokes attached to the inner rim atpoints substantially midwaybetween the clip bearers and the central portions of the spokes Securedto the hub, whereby such Shock as is transmitted from the outer to thefixed rim produces the minimum o f defiection and yet at the same timethe arcs of the inner rim are made as'long as possible with a View ofgetting the maximum of spring action.

In these drawings, Figure l is an elevar tion of the complete wheel,which embodies a detachable metal rim for carrying a pneu-` matic tyre.

Figure 2 s a vertical section ot Figur-e 1 on the dotted line m.

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged-scale sec natural elasticity of the metal.In the particular Construction shown in the drawings, where the centrehas three radi-al arms or branches a the connections a between the outerends of these arms and the ring b are .arranged at 120 degrees apart,whilst the rim e that carries the tyre is concentrically mounted aroundthe said felloe-ring (preferably by clips or other connections such as(Z that permit of the detachment of the said rim) but is separatedtherefrom by an annular space e; and these rim connections (Z arelikewise three in number and are separated .and equi-distantly disposedso as to leave the intermediate and naturally-elastic portons 0 0 0 ofthe rim hkewse freeto spring or yield in the same manner as theunconnectedportions b ?9 5 of the inner telloe b. Said connections (Zare ot greater dimension in circumterence 'than in the radial direction.v

The connections al between the rim c and :telloe b, are disposed so thatthey alternate all round the wheel with the connections between thetelloe and the ends ot the arched spokes. That is to say, in aconstructioi' such as shown in which the three felloe and centreconnections (Z are spaced at 120 degrees apart, and three connections dbetween the felloe and the rim are likewise spaced, I arrange each ofthe rim clips d midway between the felloe and the centre so that eachpoint of attachment of the rim with the wheel is located at the middleof the unattached resilient portion b b or 6 of the felloe b, whichenables the spring of the said felloe to be used to the best advantageas a medium for taking up any shocks that may be transmitted from theroad to the rm and thence through the rim-clips to the felloe 'arts 6 00 of the rim itself also serve etfcctively to take up road shoclzs or topreyent .their unmodified transmission of shocks to the.triple-point-star-centre-memberi and aXle; the arrangement being suchthat, as the wheel rotates, free or unconnected sectors of the rim andfelloe are alternately available to serve after the manner ot' springs'for oushioning the wheelcentre A 'further advantage of the alternatingdisposition of the two separate series of connect-ions a (Z, is that, asthe wheel centre is in spaced connection only with the felloe, and thefree or unconnected sections. of the felloe in turn are. inspacedvconnection with the annularly-separated rim, the part of thewheel between the hub or aXle and the circumference that are underloadcompresson cannot transmit a dead *compression thrust y on thecircumferental parts ot' the structure since when one of thetelloe-,to-ceutre connections is under the hub and subjected to Verticalload, the resilient sector of the telloe to which th centre is connectedcan yield or give under the thrust, whichprevents the elasticity of thecorresponding sector of the rim itselfbeing neutralized or impared bythe load. j

The loaded centre of the wheel is'carried in suspension from theencircliug rim through the medium of the rim-clips; these clips being ofany suitable onstruction that willprovidefor or admit of the detachmentof thelrim and tyre from the other parts of the wheel when required.

The centre portion a, of the wheel may be of any suitable Constructionwhich will lend itself to spaced attachment with the felloe. Forinstance, I may use spoke arrangements such as described in thespeoification of my concurrent application for a U. S. Patent Serial No.355531, filed Feb.s2, l920;-or I may adop-t a pair of stamping orpressings a (5 which comprise three radialarms and are braced or weldedtogether to producea 1,524,eoe

from the middle portion the said middle portion being furnished with ahub g of any suitable type whilst the outer ends of the ?spoke-like armsare suitably connected.

The hub or hub-casing may be separatcly made and riveted orotherwiseattached to the centre of the lollow spoked structure; or themiddle portions of the stanpings may beformed 'with collars or circularfianges that register when' the stanpings are asseinbled and may befitted with a tubular liner or sleeveto complete the hub body. The saidlongitudinally curved or arched spokes and the hub constitute atriple-point-star-centremember and the said epokes arepreferably made ofsheet metal stampings.

This star centre (made preferably of sheet metal stampings) mayscribedas a semi-disc wheel centre, in that it has all the essentialcharacteristics of a disc wheel (strength, lateral rigidity, simplicity,cheapness, ease of cleaning etc.) but from the fact that it is shapedand adapted to permit of connection with thenner rim or ring atthreeareas of relatively short angular or circumferential measnrement, itallows the disc wheel essentials to be obtained without sacrificng thespring or elasticity of the inner ring.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is z In a. wheel of the class described, an outer rim, aninner rim within and spaced froni the outer rim, clip bearers betweensaid rinis `each ot' greater circumferential dimension than of radialdimension, said clip bearers detachably securing said rims together, anda triple-point-star-centre-member .comprising a hub, and threelongitudinally curved spokes arranged in a symmetrical combination otseries ot arches and between .the in- -ner rim and the hubr the ends ofthe spokes being secured to thejnner rim at points suh- Vstantiallymidway between the clip bearers` and the centre portons of the SPOlGSbeing secured to the hub.

Signed at Birmingha n, England this %rd day ot December A. D. 1919.

. FREDV W. BAKER otherwise be de-

